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Crude Rises to Three-Week High as Distillate Supply Drops

West Texas Intermediate crude rose to a three-week high after a report showed that U.S. distillate supplies tumbled as cold weather bolstered heating demand. Futures gained 0.6 percent. The Energy Information Administration said stockpiles of the fuel , a category that includes heating oil and diesel, fell 3.21 million barrels last week to 120.7 million. Crude inventories increased for the first time since November. WTI also advanced after the southern portion of the Keystone XL pipeline linking Cushing, Oklahoma , to the Gulf Coast started making deliveries yesterday. “The confluence of the cold weather boosting demand and the opening of the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline is sending oil higher,” said Adam Wise, who helps run a $6 billion oil and gas bond portfolio as a managing director at Manulife Asset Management in Boston . “Crude supplies increased for the first time in eight weeks, but the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural Gas Hits Fresh Multiyear High as Cold Weather Persists

Natural-gas prices pared some gains but still reached a multiyear high as forecasts for colder-than-average weather next week spurred expectations of continued sturdy demand for the heating fuel. Natural gas for February delivery settled up 4.1 cents, or 0.9%, at $4.730 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest price since June 10, 2011. Prices have surged for three straight sessions as weather forecasts called for the frigid temperatures gripping the eastern two-thirds of the nation to continue. About half of all U.S. households use natural gas as their primary heating fuel, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Futures climbed as high as $4.886/mmBtu earlier Thursday but pared most of their […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iran Oil Exports Exaggerated, U.S. Officials Say

Iran is exaggerating its crude oil export figures and won’t be allowed to sell more than 1 million barrels a day over the next six months, U.S. officials involved in managing sanctions against the country said. Iran says it shipped 1.51 million barrels a day in November, according to figures the nation submitted to the Riyadh-based Joint Organisations Data Initiative . The data, along with historical export figures, were published Jan. 20, the same day the U.S. and its allies temporarily eased some of the sanctions against the Persian Gulf state as part of a deal to curb its nuclear program. The Obama administration said after the Nov. 24 accord was struck that Iran’s exports have been forced down to 1 million barrels a day, a reduction of more than half from 2.5 million a day before U.S. and European Union sanctions were imposed, and won’t be allowed to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. Warns Against Business With Iran

The Obama administration intensified efforts on Thursday to counter what officials called a misimpression that the six-month nuclear agreement with Iran had opened the door to new economic opportunities with the country, emphasizing that nearly all sanctions remained in force and warning businesses not to engage in any deals still pending after the accord’s July 20 expiration. As if to punctuate the administration’s assertion that little had changed, the Treasury Department announced what it described as a landmark $152 million settlement with Clearstream Banking, a Luxembourg-based banking subsidiary of Germany’s Deutsche Börse securities exchange, for having allowed Iran to bypass sanctions through the use of the company’s access to the American banking system. “Today’s action should serve as a clear alert to firms operating in the securities industry that they need to be vigilant with respect to dealings with sanctioned parties,” Adam J. Szubin, director of the Treasury’s Office […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Abbas 'seeks $1B deal with Russia on Gaza natural gas field

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Jan. 23 (UPI) — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is in Moscow on a four-day visit seeking to secure a $1 billion deal with Russia to develop a natural gas field off the Gaza Strip, The move would expand what appears to be a determined Russian push into the energy-rich Eastern Mediterranean, Russian media reports indicated. Russia signed a 25-year agreement with Syria’s embattled regime Dec. 25 that gives Russia’s state-controlled Soyuzneftegaz exclusive exploration, development and production rights over 850 square miles of Syrian waters, Moscow’s first real foothold in the booming Levant Basin. The U.S. Geological Survey reported in 2010 that the basin, which covers Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus and the Gaza Strip, contains at least 123 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas and 1.7 billion barrels of oil. The Syrian deal gives Russian President Vladimir Putin a way into a region whose resources have […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Abbas ‘seeks $1B deal with Russia on Gaza natural gas field

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Jan. 23 (UPI) — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is in Moscow on a four-day visit seeking to secure a $1 billion deal with Russia to develop a natural gas field off the Gaza Strip, The move would expand what appears to be a determined Russian push into the energy-rich Eastern Mediterranean, Russian media reports indicated. Russia signed a 25-year agreement with Syria’s embattled regime Dec. 25 that gives Russia’s state-controlled Soyuzneftegaz exclusive exploration, development and production rights over 850 square miles of Syrian waters, Moscow’s first real foothold in the booming Levant Basin. The U.S. Geological Survey reported in 2010 that the basin, which covers Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus and the Gaza Strip, contains at least 123 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas and 1.7 billion barrels of oil. The Syrian deal gives Russian President Vladimir Putin a way into a region whose resources have […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Cairo rocked by blasts on eve of anniversary of Egypt uprising

A large blast near police headquarters in central Cairo on Friday killed at least two people and wounded many others, security and medical sources said. Three security sources said a car bomb was the likely cause of the explosion, which damaged the building and sent smoke rising over the city centre Three explosions struck the Egyptian capital on Friday, killing at least five people and injuring almost 60, on the eve of the third anniversary of the country’s 2011 uprising against President Hosni Mubarak . At 6.30am a powerful car bomb exploded outside the Cairo police headquarters, killing at least four people and injuring 50. Several hours later, an explosion targeted police vehicles near an underground station in western Cairo, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Cease-Fire Pact Signed in South Sudan

The South Sudanese government and rebel forces signed a cease-fire agreement Thursday, a step toward ending more than a month of fighting that threatened to tear apart the world’s youngest nation. There were few immediate details about the deal, but negotiators said it hewed to a draft agreement distributed to media earlier in the week. Under the draft agreement, both sides agreed to freeze their troops in place and cease military operations, including ammunition resupplies. It also required them to protect civilians from violence, stop hostile statements in the media and open up corridors for humanitarian aid. Thursday’s pact marks the first sign of a potential peace in South Sudan since fighting broke out in mid-December. At the time, President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy of attempting a coup. A rebellion then erupted, eventually drawing into the conflict neighboring Uganda, which has sent troops to help South […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Venezuela Bonds Slide as Economic Measures Deemed Insufficient

Venezuelan bonds fell hard Thursday, a day after the government announced a partial currency devaluation seen largely as insufficient to resolve the oil-rich country’s growing economic challenges. Economists said the government’s plan to sell more dollars to Venezuelans at a weaker exchange rate against the dollar would produce a marginal difference in its fiscal deficit, and likely prompt the central bank to continue printing the bolivar currency. That is likely to potentially exacerbate an inflation rate that is already at 56%, one of the world’s highest. Economy Vice Minister Rafael Ramirez, who also heads the state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, said Thursday that private companies would also be allowed to sell dollars. But details of the plan are scant, and observers said there was little indication that the state would do much to ease its rigid dollar controls. "It’s a case of too little, too […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple